Grant's Baptism

What a beautiful day to welcome Grant into the Kingdom of God! Nichole and Connor were proud parents, and I'd have to say the same thing for Grant's godparents, Erin and Cole. Heck, I think all of us were beaming during the entire baptism, except for Grant that is. He did pretty well until he actually got baptized, then he got pretty cranky. But that's ok. He's officially the newest member of God's kingdom and St. Thomas. We love you Grant!

Day of Hope

Not a day goes by that my heart doesn't miss Ian and Madison. I'll always be left wondering what their laugh would sound like, and longing to hear the pitter-patter of their feet running through our house. Would Ian be a momma's boy and would Madison have her daddy wrapped around her finger? (In case you were wondering, the answer to that last question would be a big ol' YES.) For some reason, they weren't meant to live on this side of Heaven. I'm trying to accept that fact, but it can be so hard sometimes.

I'm in a few different pregnancy and infant loss groups, and as I was scrolling through Facebook this morning, I noticed many people posting things about the "Day of Hope". I hadn't heard of this day before, so I decided to do a little research.

It turns out that since 2008, August 19th has been internationally known as the Day of Hope. It was created to help break the silence surrounding the death of babies and children who were taken from Earth way too soon. What an amazing day!

You know I'm not shy in sharing my story of our losses, and I encourage you on this Day of Hope to break the silence and share your story. I am a firm believer that I haven't traveled down this unimaginable road for nothing, and I hope that I can be that extra push for someone to finally tell the world about their baby. Because whether you lost your baby when you were six weeks pregnant or when they were 6 days old, that baby is still yours and was still your baby. And until we are finally all reunited again, I'll be holding on to this Day of Hope that things will get better for all of us.

Galena Getaway

Thanks to so many of you (our wonderful friends and family), we were on a little Galena getaway this weekend. And what a relaxing getaway it was!

Robert and Douglas, the innkeepers of Aldrich Guest House, made us feel right at home in their beautiful bed and breakfast. The food they made was absolutely delicious, especially the extra treat we received for having to go a day with a broken shower. (The guests before us broke off the knobs on the shower so we could only take a bath that first day. They had a replacement part shipped and installed by the time we got back that night, and it was as good as new. We even joked that we would have totally had that happen again if we could eat their sea-salted caramel chocolate torte again!)

We spent Friday touring the Blaum Bros Distilling Company, which you should totally tour if you are in that area, eating lunch and beer tasting at the Galena Brewing Company, and then winery hopping at the four local wineries.

Saturday we were in total tourist mode as we took a historic trolley tour of the city and learned so many interesting facts about the history of Galena. We visited the Belvedere Mansion and the home that the people of Galena bought for Ulysses S. Grant after the Civil War. We walked up and down the "Helluva Half Mile" admiring the historic buildings and little shops that adorn the streets. We even indulged in some ice cream and all sorts of dips, jellies, and spreads at the Galena Canning Company. We enjoyed wine and a snack back at the Aldrich House with Robert and Douglas. I loved that we were able to learn more about them, how they ended up in Galena, and about all the renovations they made to the place. If you could see their before and after pictures you would understand- there is such a thing as too much floral. Before dinner that night we went out to Horseshoe Mound to check out some of the amazing scenery that Galena has to offer. I think I only mentioned about a thousand times how badly I wanted to come out there and do family or senior pictures. If only it wasn't over five hours away!

Overall, it was the perfect way to end our summer. If we ever make it up that way again, the Aldrich Guest House will definitely be where we will stay. Thank you to everyone who donated towards this trip for us, we are forever grateful to you all!

Remembering Madison and Ian

I feel like I've been pretty quiet on here lately. But these last few weeks have been crazy busy with summer winding down, Eric going to Japan, and a busy photography schedule. A few months ago, I had ordered Molly Bears for both Madison and Ian. Madison's came in while Eric was in Japan, and it was so hard not to open it while he was gone! I might have most definitely cried when we opened the box and I felt her weight in my arms again. A week or so after Madison's bear came in, Ian's bear came in as well. It's crazy how tiny he really was. 

(Shout out to my momma for taking this picture and a few others for us!)

The weekend Eric got back from Japan (I'm planning to have him write something up for the blog so you all can hear all about it!) we set Ian and Madison's memorial stones in the children's memorial garden at St. Thomas. (Thank you Dan and Theresa for ordering those for us!) We placed them right by their aunt Julie's stone. Next up on the list is to get Madison's headstone ordered. I'm looking forward to having a permanent marker next to Ian's.